Turn signal headlight eyelet detached and flew out of place on highway...

[NorCal]

Was driving along on the highway this morning and I suddendly saw my turn signal headlight fly up - it was dangling from the wire, dancing back and forth scratching my front clam as it did.

I did a sudden 3-lane change to get over to get to the shoulder as soon as possible.

See pics to see what I found - it completely detached....

Anyone know what went wrong?

And more importantly - does anyone have any clever suggestions on how to get it back in there so it STAYS(!) there permanently?

[waydui]

Unfortunately, it's one of those things!

Well, maybe not all, but the retaining tabs are notorious for not holding the lights in place.

I always tape mine down when running AutoX or other extracurricular activities.

I filed excess flashing from the tabs as well as cleaned up the fiberglass areas on the car so that the tabs could seat properly. If the tab doesn't have a solid "click" sound when you install it, I would take it out and file some more to get the required clearance for the tabs to grab properly.

Also some tabs break off or crack, so make sure yours are intact.

Regards,
Wayne

[NorCal]

I just checked and the white plastic tabs on the headlight are in fact intact. The fiberglass they seat into also looks fine.

Anyone have a clever way of getting them to stay in there "permanently"?

[waydui]

Originally Posted by NorCal

I just checked and the white plastic tabs on the headlight are in fact intact. The fiberglass they seat into also looks fine.

Anyone have a clever way of getting them to stay in there "permanently"?

OK, here are a few links to threads where they made some mods to fix the problem.

You can choose which one works best for you.

Links: First warranty claim = BS

Lights Popping Out

Lotus Elise Maintenance, Indicator Lens Installation

Good luck.

Regards,
Wayne

[thewb2001]

not to insult you, but maybe you could take a pic of the other end of the turn signal that we can't see...

I've replaced turn signals 3 times...always because a tab breaks...and sometime it breaks pretty cleanly--so much so that it looks like it was made that way. there's only one time that it popped out and wasn't broken.

while waiting for a new assembly to be shipped to me, I've either removed the lens and light bulb or wired the lens in place through the small hole in the front of the car (the one that you put a screwdriver in if you are removing the lens to change the bulb)

[MNlotus]

happened to me too....

[BRTHTAKR]

Has happened to me too. This is the stuff that separates us from soft sports car people who drive P cars and ricers.

[CVeRiTy]

Ironically, these are a PITA to get off when you actually want to in order to change the bulbs.

[cdn_alien]

Mine broke the first week of ownership. Broken clip. I put a few small dabs of crazyglue to hold it down temporarily until I could get it back to the dealer. They asked "Is it holding?", I said yes, and he said "Oh good, leave it!". Three years later, it's still holding! I'm just glad the bulb hasn't burned out

[Dmbrown34]

Originally Posted by CVeRiTy

Ironically, these are a PITA to get off when you actually want to in order to change the bulbs.

insert a screw driver from the front and push the tab forward and it pops out. Usually isnt to hard.

While the light is out its a good idea to check to see if your coolent is leaking. They have been known to leak a little by the driver side. If its leaking you just have to tighten up the clamp.

[ZTEC]

Been there done that! mine scared the **** out of me just cruising down the highway! I lost the rubber gasket around the lens while it was flipping around on the clam!!!
I usually track like this now!
It actually popped out on the way to this track day - If you look close you can see that there is no gasket on the drivers side turn lamp under the tape!

[glb]

a tiny bit of clear silicone seal works, unseen.

[shay2nak]

Originally Posted by NorCal

I just checked and the white plastic tabs on the headlight are in fact intact. The fiberglass they seat into also looks fine.

Anyone have a clever way of getting them to stay in there "permanently"?

is it? I don't see the hook at the end of the plastic tab.

[SouL]

This happened to me last night.
Thankfully I was near work and I could drive over to pick up some tape to hold the light down on the way home.
A broken tab caused the failure.

shay: The tab is actually on the other end of the turn signal. The point facing the road, not in the picture.

[AgentTripleX]

I will say this has happened to me at least a dozen times. One of the times it scratched my starshield and I had that replaced fortunately by my insurance. The last time it happened I was out of warranty and it cost me over $200 to replace. One time the dealer broke it during bulb replacement as well and still charged me for the replacement casing since they warned me that breakage was a possibility. It's a poor design by Lotus unfortunately.

[Minnis]

fill them in and LED it

[robains]

This is how I fixed the problem. Survived a track day and some wicked vibration from rubber build up on my Hoosiers.

Rob

[Cthulhu]

My driver's side turn signal would always pop out. I thought that I got it to click in, finally fixing it, a few times. If you pull out that piece of rubber cord to just the right length it usually holds.

When my car got totalled the driver's sider signal stayed in. But the passenger side one, which had never come loose before, popped out, as if to mock me.

[plastique999]

Originally Posted by Minnis

fill them in and LED it

+1

[AW07LE]

Originally Posted by Minnis

fill them in and LED it

Originally Posted by plastique999

+1

Where can you get LED front turn signal bulbs? I can't find them anywhere. I bought 3 sets and it was all the wrong bulb (got bulb #s from people's posts here). Anyone know the correct bulb number? I prefer the color to be white or yellow (I'm not a fan of the amber).